Title: Emotional dimensions of dirty work: men's encounter with taint in the butcher trade

Authors: Ruth Simpson; Natasha Slutskaya; Jason Hughes

Addresses: Brunel Business School, Brunel University, UK. ' Brunel Business School, Brunel University, UK. ' School of Social Sciences, Brunel University, UK

Abstract: This paper sets out to explore the emotional dimensions of dirty work. In particular, through a study of the meat trade, it investigates how butchers draw on and activate emotions in managing the |dirtiness| of the job. It demonstrates the significance of often conflicting emotions of disgust, shame, pleasure and pride. Further, in the context of recent |cleansing| and regulation of the trade, we highlight how nostalgia marks men|s responses to how the work is experienced. We draw on Bourdieu|s (1977, 1990) notion of habitus to make sense of some of these dynamics and argue that an understanding of emotions within dirty work must be framed within a specific set of class and gender relations.

Keywords: dirty work; butchers; emotional labour; meat trade; conflicting emotions; class relations; gender relations.

DOI: 10.1504/IJWOE.2011.044597

International Journal of Work Organisation and Emotion, 2011 Vol.4 No.2, pp.195 - 212

Published online: 31 Dec 2011 *

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